


The Choice

by LadyLazuli97



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, F/F, I'm Sorry, Post S4, S5 doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24297991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLazuli97/pseuds/LadyLazuli97
Summary: After defeating Horde Prime, Adora, Glimmer and Bow only have to return to Bright Moon. The journey from Prime's flagship to Etheria is the only thing that separates them from finally having a normal life. Nothing can go wrong, right?
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	The Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This story arose after a conversation with a friend, in which we put together a lot of sad random ideas. Don't try to make sense of it, it doesn't have any 😅

“Over here!” shouted Bow, as he was turning a corner.

Glimmer felt as though she couldn’t run any faster, but the sound of an explosion coming from within the ship was all the motivation she needed. Adora had taken her hand just to make sure that Glimmer wouldn’t lag behind, and it was comforting to feel the blonde girl close to her. She would’ve liked to have been running hand in hand with her girlfriend in any other situation, not fleeing from a spaceship that was just about to explode.

Things just so happened to have worked out like this: Adora, Bow, Entrapta, and Scorpia had made it all the way there in Mara’s ship just to rescue Glimmer and Catra from Horde Prime. They had freed Glimmer from her cell, and then, just after Glimmer explained that Catra wasn’t a prisoner, but was actually pretending to be Prime’s ally, they were forced to wait for a moment in which Catra would be alone so they could take her without being found out. During this little pause in their plan, Glimmer had the opportunity to apologize to Adora and to Bow for everything that happened before, and to her surprise, they apologized to her too. The three spoke of their mistakes and forgave each other. In truth, Glimmer had been desperate to be reunited with them again, and that seemed to be a mutual feeling, because the three accepted each other’s apologies without any reservations and hugged. And of course, to Glimmer and Adora, this moment had been especially comforting, since the last time they had seen each other, before Adora and Bow had run off to Beast Island, they had fought badly. It wasn’t clear anymore if their relationship would go on. For Glimmer though, all of these doubts had been cleared the moment Adora appeared at her cell and kissed her passionately. Everything would be fine… they would finally be able to go back to Bright Moon alongside her best friend and her Girlfriend…

But, of course, things never went as planned. They got caught by Horde Prime’s guards, so Catra’s rescue had not been so easy. Whilst they were busy trying to fight Prime and his guards, Mara’s ship had already been located on board, and the Horde was now dead set on destroying it and capturing everyone. Adora had then insisted, mid fight, that everybody make a run for it while she gave them time. Of course, Glimmer refused. She had just been reunited with her girl and couldn’t even think of leaving her behind. Nobody wanted to leave Adora behind really, but they couldn’t afford to lose their ship. It was just as well that Catra wasn’t in the best fighting condition either, since Prime had not been exactly gentle with her. In the end, they managed to get Entrapta, Scorpia and Catra gunning it for the ship, with the Best Friend Squad doing their best to buy them time. Adora had confronted Prime face to face without being able to transform into She-Ra, because, as Glimmer had just been informed, the Sword of Protection was gone.

Well, long story short, after beating the guards, Bow and Glimmer had gone and helped Adora with her fight against Prime. Between the three of them, they had managed to beat him, not without a few scratches obviously, but in the end, he was out cold. The problem was that they had managed this all by throwing him against his own portal device, activating it in the process. Bow couldn’t find a way to turn it off, and something was very, very wrong. An enormous amount of energy was concentrating on the machine, and every single warning signal seemed to indicate that the portal that was just about to be opened would not be stable. They began to run to the nearest escape pod before having to find out just what would happen.

And finally, they found one, just as Horde Prime’s flagship began to tremble, and sounds of alarm and distant explosion could be heard all over.

“Inside! Quick!”, Bow insisted, pushing the girls inside the small ship.

There was then an even bigger explosion. Time was running out, and Glimmer knew it.

“Bow!”, exclaimed Adora, as the boy sat down on the captain’s chair- “Can you fly this!? You have to hurry up!”

“I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying! Just let me…”

Bow pressed a button, and the ship’s hatch began to close slowly. Then, he managed to fire up the ship. Glimmer breathed a sigh of relief then. They were gonna make it, they were really going to make it…

Adora put her hands on her shoulders and allowed herself to smile a little, saying “Everything’s okay now Glim, we made it”

Glimmer couldn’t answer. She raised her hand to touch Adora’s face but couldn’t do it. The blonde girl had a fairly deep gash on her left cheek, probably caused by their last stand against Horde Prime. Adora saw the worry on the girl’s face and said: “Don’t worry, it hurts a little bit, but it’s nothing serious”.

“Adora, I…”

Whatever Glimmer was about to say was cut short by a huge explosion. Horde Prime’s ship had exploded. There was a terrible shake, and Glimmer felt several hits against her body while she could hear Bow and Adora scream. The escape ship was spinning out of control, propelled by the force of the explosion.

“Glimmer!”, Adora shouted, managing to catch her arm; “I got you!”

Glimmer felt how Adora pulled her in and protected her with her body, hugging her strongly.

Finally, Bow managed to stabilize the ship. Adora was panting hard, thrown to the floor with the Queen in her arms, after taking several more hits for the two of them.

“Bow! Are you okay?”, Adora asked.

“Yeah!”, the boy answered, with a frightened tone in his voice; “We’re okay…”

“Glim?”

“I’m fine, Adora”

Adora let go, and the Queen stood on her feet, helping the blonde rise with her. The both of them approached the window, and saw just how not one, nor two, but several explosions occurred at the same time in Horde Prime’s enormous ship. The blast wave had jettisoned the ship a considerable distance away. Well… if Adora hadn’t killed him, this certainly would.

“Bow, we have to get out of here”, Adora pressed; “If the Portal machine is causing all of this…”

“I know… but we have a problem”, Bow said, glancing at one of the alarm screens.

“What’s happening?”, Glimmer tried to inquire; “Please, don’t tell me the Ship’s busted”

“No, I think everything’s working fine. But we never got to detach from the Flagship”.

“What does that mean?”, Adora asked.

“We never detached. The explosion blew off a piece of the ship and we’re still stuck to it. This is only an escape pod; we can’t drag that much mass”.

Glimmer looked out the ship’s cockpit. There were several chunks from the flagship floating about, and the explosions continued, throwing even more bits.

“Is it very big?”, asked Glimmer.

“Well, according to the warning readings, yes”, Bow muttered, reading off the data on the screens.

“Okay, so we just have to remove it, right?”, Adora pointed out.

“In theory, yes. That should be enough to make the ship go”.

“Great! I’ll go pull it off”.

“Hold on Adora”, Bow stopped her; “We just survived one explosion. There must be a whole bunch of space junk flying out there ready to deck you! Besides, if it’s a very big chunk it’ll be hard to just, push it off” 

“I don’t think so”, Adora smiled; “If you tried to detach the ship, as if everything were normal, there must be some kind of mechanism meant to let go of it with a good push, right?”

“I- I don’t know…”.

“Come on Bow! What other option do we have? We’re gonna have to go out there eventually. And if that portal decides to blow too…”

Glimmer had a bad feeling about all this. She couldn’t leave her alone. She’d never leave her alone again.

“I’m going with you”, Glimmer offered; “I may not have my magic, but an extra pair of hands sure would be useful to help push that thing off, right?”

“No, Glim, it’s too dangerous”, Adora protested.

“Right, so you plan on what, risking yourself alone? I’m not leaving you, dummy”.

“Stop it, both of you”, Bow intervened; “In any case, let me go”. “I wouldn’t feel calm letting you guys risk yourselves”.

“No Bow, you need to be here, to fire up the ship as soon as you can”, Adora pointed out. Then she smiled and said: “You know I suck at driving spaceships”.

Bow looked on with worry. Adora smiled again and hit him lightly on the shoulder, saying: “Come on! I’ll be fine!”.

“WE’ll be fine”, Glimmer corrected.

“You’re not going anywhere. We just rescued you, I’m not putting you in danger again”.

“Adora, just let me do this. I want to help you! This whole mess is my fault anyway”.

Adora sighed, pensive. Glimmer really wanted to be with her for this. One way or another she would have to make up for all the bad things she’d said and done and helping her remove a big chunk of space waste stuck to their tiny escape pod seemed like a good start. Glimmer just wanted to be a good friend. And a good girlfriend.

“We better all put on spacesuits”, Bow said in the end.

“Bow…”, Adora had begun to say.

“Just in case. They must be over there”.

“No, you guys can’t…”

“By this door?”, Glimmer pointed, already walking in that direction.

Glimmer could hear Adora sigh heavily. It was clear she had won this discussion.

* * *

“It’s not fair for you two to gang up on me like that, to win an argument”, Adora complained, securing her cable line, and Glimmer’s.

“Sounds familiar… wasn’t that what you and Bow did just before you ran off to Beast Island without my consent?, Glimmer commented.

“Okay, fine. It’s fair”.

Glimmer let out a little laugh. Adora still felt unsure to allow Glimmer to accompany her, but now that the two of them were standing in the decompression module, there wasn’t much to do or say to dissuade her.

“I’m very sorry for that, by the way”, Glimmer said.

“It’s ok Glim, you already told me so on Prime’s ship”, Adora responded, smiling.

“I know, but… I’m truly so very sorry. Adora, I behaved so badly with you, and there’s still so many things I need to apologize for. I never wanted you to believe that… my mom…”

“It’s fine…”.

“No! It’s not fine!”.

Glimmer closed the space between them and took Adora’s hands, although with the spacesuit on, the sensation wasn’t how Adora would’ve liked it.

“I promise you that I’m going to compensate you, for everything that happened”, Glimmer assured her; “I know I said and did horrible things, but I want you to know I regret every single one. Adora… I love you, and I don’t want to lose you”.

Adora nodded and tried to close the distance even more, so she could kiss Glimmer. She missed Glimmer’s lips so badly, that she almost couldn’t believe how totally incredible and marvelous the sensation of feeling them again was.

“I love you Glimmer… we’re going to be okay. We’re going to go home… Wait and see the surprise that awaits you in Bright Moon”.

“Well, then we better hurry up with the…”

“Guys!”, Bow’s voice interrupted through their communicator; “I know you have a lot to talk about, but you can do it on the way back! Remember that we don’t want to die out here?”

“Yeah, ok we’re going!”, Glimmer tried to reason.

The girls put their helmets on and prepared to go out. Adora pressed a button, and immediately felt how the vacuum threatened to drag her out. Luckily, the boots in the spacesuit had magnetic soles included.

“Are you ok Glim?”, Adora asked, through the communicator in her own helmet.

“Yeah!, she answered; “Should we go now?”.

The pressure from outside and inside the module was the same now. Adora offered her a hand. Glimmer took it. The two of them deactivated the magnets in their boots, and took off into space, together.

“Oh god…”, Glimmer muttered.

“Are you guys outside?”, said Bow through the comms; “Is the wreckage too big?”.

“It’s pretty huge”, informed Adora.

Well, at least that explained why their little ship refused to move. Their pod was stuck to an enormous metallic wall. Adora felt like just her strength alone and Glimmer’s wouldn’t be enough to remove the whole thing.

“Adora…”, Bow began.

“We have to try it, we don’t have to worry just yet”, Adora offered, although her own voice trembled slightly; “Just… try to detach normally. Glim, help me push the lower section, and I’ll try the upper bit”.

* * *

“What about now?”, asked Bow’s voice in Adora’s ear through the comm.

“On the count of three, Glimmer”, Adora indicated; “One… Two… Three!”.

Adora pushed with all her might against the great metallic wall, propping her back against it, and her feet on the ship’s roof. The wall didn’t budge, not even a little bit. It was useless, but Adora refused to give up. They’d only given it five minutes’ worth of trying, but time in space seemed to pass so much slower. Besides, from afar, Prime’s ship would not stop with the continuous explosions. That couldn’t be good, not at all…

“Forget it!”, Glimmer seemed to give up; “We need another plan”.

“We don’t have another plan”, Bow lamented; “The ship can’t drag this dead weight… we need to remove it!”

“Ok, but what if…?”

Adora stopped listening. Something odd was happening… The explosions on the flagship seemed to have stopped suddenly, as if they had frozen up. Just then, the ship appeared to tremble.

“Bow… what’s going on?”, asked Adora.

“Oh no... You guys have to come back, right now!”.

“What…?”.

“NOW, RIGHT NOW!”.

Adora jumped from the roof of the ship to meet with Glimmer, but in that moment, an enormous explosion happened. One that destroyed the entirety of Horde Prime’s ship, once and for all.

“GLIMMER!”

They were still too far away from one another, but even so, Adora tried to stretch her hand towards Glimmer, even though she knew she wouldn’t reach her.

She felt how the cable with which she was attached to the ship tugged on her as a gigantic chunk from the flagship hit them. She heard screams from Bow and Glimmer, piercings her ears. For a couple of horrible seconds, she felt incapable of seeing anything but a bunch of lights with no sense. At least, she was still tethered to the ship…

When they finally stabilized, she saw something that made her heart stop for a cold moment. 

“Bow…”, said Glimmer, deathly afraid; “I think… one of our problems is solved”.

The section of space waste that they needed to remove was gone. But with it, most of the extraction module was too. It was a miracle that the cables tethering Adora and Glimmer hadn’t just burst with the impact. Shit… Was the ship still operational? Would it still fire up after that hit?

Adora was just beginning to worry about that, when she saw that she had spoken too soon about those cables… The sheet of metal that connected with hers had broken off slightly, and kept steadily breaking off the ship, little by little. And, on the other hand, Glimmer’s cable was breaking, it was attached barely by a few strands of wire.

“Adora!”, Glimmer screamed, desperately; “Adora, the cable!”.

“Don’t move!”, Adora barked, feeling her breathing speed up and agitate; “I’m going to-”

She couldn’t finish. She grabbed her cable with both hands and tugged to try and propel herself towards the ship, but in doing so, she saw as the metal bit of wall that kept her attached broke off almost completely. Adora yelled when she felt how she was being pulled away from the ship.

“Bow!”, Glimmer called him; “We need help!”.

“Don’t move, I’m coming! Hang on guys!”, answered the boy.

Adora felt like something was pulling her backward a bit. She looked back, where Horde Prime’s ship used to be, and saw in horror as slowly, the pieces from the ship began to float back to the center of the explosion… but there was nothing over there. That is, Adora couldn’t see any stars, or anything else… there was only an intense black color that was beginning to grow bigger…

“Bow! I think a new portal is being opened!”, Adora yelled, feeling her body be pulled, and watching in absolute horror as the sheet of metal she was attached to kept breaking off rapidly.

“Oh no…”, she heard the boy say.

The ship's propulsors turned on. However, it barely moved before it became static again, even though the engines were on.

“Adora, what’s happening?”, Glimmer asked, in a voice that showed nothing but despairing anguish.

“Glim… Glim… everything will be alright”, Adora tried to say, although she began to doubt that herself, for she kept being pulled back with more strength. The ship began to move back slowly…

“Bow!”, Adora exclaimed.

The pod’s hatch opened, and some objects flew out of it. Adora saw Bow getting out. The boy had wrapped some random piece of cable round the captain’s chair, and on his own waste. Just then, the sheet that kept Adora attached broke off, she felt her heart stop for a few seconds, before being stopped by a strong tug.

Bow held Adora’s cable with both hands. Adora didn’t even get time to thank him, when Glimmer’s cable burst. Bow threw himself forward, catching the Glimmer’s cable with only one hand. The movement had been so sudden, that Bow’s own makeshift tether burst equally.

Like that, Bow was left holding onto a cable in each hand, and the only thing stopping the three of them from being dragged off into space, was Bow’s pair of magnetic boots. However, the portal kept getting bigger, and each time it pulled on them with even more force. And not just them, the whole ship was beginning to move faster, aside from all the space junk from the previous explosions. Everything, everything was being sucked in by the portal.

“It’s ok, I have you both!”, Bow exclaimed, grinding his teeth.

“I’m going to try to get to you”, Adora indicated, and grabbed her own cable with both hands.

Of course, it was a terrible idea. By trying it, her cable slipped slightly from Bow’s hand, and the boy’s feet slid to the edge of the ship’s floor.

“Stop it Adora! That’s not going to work!”, Glimmer pointed out.

“There has to be a way!”, Adora yelled.

“It’s ok... It’s ok, hold on! I have it under control!”, Bow assured, pulling on both cables.

Since Adora’s cable had been stuck to a wall, it’d become wedged into a corner, while Glimmer’s was completely loose. Meaning, Bow couldn’t just put both of his hands together with both tethers to pull back strongly.

Adora saw just how much debris had already been consumed by the portal, just like some meteorites even.

“Just what kind of Portal is that!?”, asked Glimmer.

“It’s not a portal at all”, Bow explained; “It’s a Black Hole. All that energy from the Portal device, it must’ve been too much!”

“Why is it pulling on us so strongly!?”, exclaimed Adora.

“That’s what Black Holes do! They consume everything in their path”.

Adora felt so weak. She could feel the Black Hole pulling on her with even more force than Bow. Also, the objects around them began to move faster towards the darkness. The only reason they weren’t following that same fate was that Bow that turned on the ship’s propulsion. It was buying them some time, but they were being sucked in anyways.

“I can do it, guys”, Bow assured, huffing, “I can do it... We’re going to be fine!”

Adora could see how Bow was slowly dragged to the edge. His magnetic boots wouldn’t hold on much longer, he was going to be sucked in by the Black Hole too.

And in that moment, an alarm began to ring from the inside of the ship. Adora looked ahead. Far away, she could see several meteorites coming closer, attracted by the force.

They wouldn’t make it. Adora realized that. There was no way Bow could resist any longer…

“Bow”, said Adora, with a shaky voice.

Her friend looked at her. Adora could see it in his gaze… he knew it was all useless.

“Bow… you have to let go of me”.

Adora heard those words as if someone else had said them. Everything was clear, it was what she had to do.

“What the Hell are you saying, Adora!?”, shouted Glimmer.

“You have to let go of me!”, Adora repeated, feeling her eyes swell up in tears; “It’s the only way. Bow, you have to save Glimmer. Take her home. Please!”.

“I’m not letting go of you! You’re crazy!”, Bow answered.

“Bow…”.

Bow then threw a strangled cry of pain, and Adora could see his hands were trembling, and, withal, what he said was: “No Adora!” I’m not letting you go!”.

“It’s the only way! You can’t save us both!”, Adora made him see.

“She’s right”, Glimmer accepted. “Then let go of me!”.

Adora looked at Glimmer, and she looked back at her. What the hell did she just say? No… No, couldn’t Glimmer get it?

“Glimmer, what the hell are you saying?!”, Adora scoffed; “You’re too important… You’re the Queen! You HAVE to go home!”.

“And YOU’RE She-Ra!”, Glimmer answered back, with a firmness in her voice; “You’re the one that must go back!” Etheria needs you!”.

“I don’t even have the sword anymore! I’m not good for anything. Bow, save Glimmer PLEASE!”.

“Stop it!”, Bow scrambled; “I’m not letting go of either of you, so shut up!”

Adora couldn’t stop her tears anymore, and they were accumulating in her eyes.

“Glimmer… go home. The war is over, you have to put order in the Kingdom.”.

“No, Adora…”

“Bow! Let me go!”.

“DON’T YOU DARE, BOW!”

They were crawling ever closer to the Black Hole, so the force pulling on them became greater. The alarm on the ship kept blaring, and the meteorites would strike any minute.

“Glimmer… You HAVE to go back home”, Adora implored; “Your father is alive!”.

She could hear how Glimmer’s breath hitched, and then trembled. Adora knew that Bow wouldn’t resist much longer.

“But… that’s not possible…”, Glimmer muttered, pained; “He died!”.

“No, no that’s not true”, assured Adora; “He was a prisoner, in Beast Island. We saved him. You HAVE to go back to him; don’t you want to see him again?”.

Adora felt like she was playing dirty. Telling that to Glimmer in this moment…

But she had no choice.

“Bow…”, Glimmer muttered between sobs; “Tell my dad, that I’m sorry. SAVE ADORA!”

“NO!”, Adora yelled, desperate; “Glimmer, I’m not letting you die here! I came to rescue you! I won’t allow it! I promised your father I’d bring you back!”.

“Adora, you always save me… let me save you, for once”.

“No Glim… no… I promised your mom I’d take care of you”.

“It’s about time you let others take care of you instead”.

Adora let out a wail of anguish, Why? Why just now that they were back together, after so many problems? Why was this happening to them when they had just fixed their problems? She just wanted to go home, and be with her girlfriend, that was all she wanted…

But things weren’t going to be like that. And she was prepared to do anything to save Glimmer. Even if she had to play dirty…

“Bow!”, she called to the boy, who was sobbing desperately, between physical and emotional pain. “Bow… Glimmer is your best friend. You can’t let her die out here. You’ve only known me for a few years, you don’t have to save me”.

“Adora…”, he sobbed.

“Adora, don’t do this!”, Glimmer demanded.

“Bow! Are you going to let Glimmer die? Can you seriously go back home and tell Micah that you decided to save me!?”, Adora scoffed; “You’ll be able to tell everyone how you left the Queen of Bright Moon die!?”.

“Adora, shut up!”, Glimmer begged.

They were crawling closer by the second. If Bow didn’t act fast, the three of them would die.

“Bow! Bow… look at me”, Glimmer pleaded.

And Bow obeyed.

“Adora’s right in something”, The pink-haired girl said. “You’ve been my best friend for years. You know how much I love you. And you know exactly what i want you to do right now, at this moment. We don’t have any more time. Two of us must go back home, and you already know who they have to be…”.

“Bow, just let go!”, Adora demanded, pulling on her own cable.

“Bow… do it for me… please…”.

Bow looked to Glimmer, just for a few seconds. Then, she looked at Adora. By the expression in his face, Adora knew he had made a choice.

“Adora…”, said the boy, with a trembling, small voice; “Adora, I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry…”

Adora felt a strange feeling of relief, at his words.

“Bow…”, Glimmer uttered.

“Adora, I’m sorry”, cried Bow.

“It’s fine, it’s okay Bow”, Adora assured him. She even allowed herself to smile a little bit.

Bow looked at her, dead in her eyes. Adora kept her eyes on his, as he finally let go of the cable.

The problem was that it wasn’t hers that he let go of.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, for just a few seconds. She saw, as Glimmer’s cable separated from Bow’s hand. Adora opened her eyes in horror as she looked at her Girlfriend, drifting away a few meters in just one blink.

Adora didn’t even think about it. She threw herself with her arms and legs, however she could, and held onto Glimmer’s cable with both hands. She felt how she drifted a few meters as well. She looked back and saw that Bow was holding on with both hands, but his feet were barely a few inches from the edge.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING ADORA!?”, Glimmer wailed, crying desperately.

“What the Hell are YOU doing!?”, Adora responded, without being able to properly see her through her tears; “You can’t do this! Bow…!”.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”, Bow kept on sobbing, with a very agitated breathing, and with pain ingrained in every syllable.

Adora’s hands were shaking. It was as if holding Glimmer became harder and harder by the second. Bow was trying to pull, now that he had both hands to do it, but the Hole’s attraction was too strong for him.

“Don’t blame Bow, please”, Glimmer begged; “Bow, it’s okay… Thank you so much”.

“Glimmer, I can’t do this…”, Adora said, trying still to get closer; “Just let me…”

“You know you can’t do it. You have to go home.”.

“No, Glim…”.

“Adora! Do it for you, for Bow, for me. Let me save you guys, There’s no time anymore”.

“No…”

“Adora… thank you for everything”.

“Glim, don’t do this…”.

“I love you, so much. I will always love you…”.

“GLIMMER!”.

“I love you Adora”.

“Adora let a wail of anguish escape her. They were so close to the Hole, and a pair of small meteorites had already hit the ship. The bigger ones were getting closer, and Bow was barely an inch before the edge…

“Glimmer…”, Adora began, with a strangled voice; “I love you Glimmer. I always will”.

“I know you will. Tell my dad, that I’m sorry”.

Adora softened her grip and felt the head of the cable slide slowly through her fingers.

“Thank you… Starlight”, she heard Glimmer day.

“No… NO!!”, Adora screamed, but it was already too late.

She felt a strong tug, but she couldn’t pry her eyes away from Glimmer, seeing her drift away…

She felt Bow’s arms holding her firmly, while she screamed her girlfriend’s name.

Bow dragged her back to the cockpit, all the while, Adora tried to fight herself free. What sense was there in going back home now? Glimmer was her home!

“Adora! Stop!”, exclaimed Bow, practically throwing her against the cockpit’s wall and closing the hatch. He pressed a button, and the air went back to normal. The alarm was drilling into her ears, and the ship kept shaking from all the hits from meteorites.

“Why did you do it!?”, she yelled at Bow, hitting him in the chest; “You had to let me go!”.

Bow didn’t respond. He ran to the control panel, and set the pod on its way, turning on the engines at maximum power. Adora fell to the floor, crying, feeling as the ship shook, avoiding more meteorites.

“We have to go back for her!”, Adora screamed.

How could she allow this to happen? She could’ve made Bow let go of her! If she had only been stronger… if only she hadn’t been afraid…

It was all her fault. Glimmer was gone, and it was all because she didn’t do anything to stop it. She let her go out, she didn’t sacrifice herself first… SHE had to die, NOT GLIMMER.

She took off her helmet and threw it aside, covering her face with her hands while she sobbed and wretched, wrecking her throat with every wail. She wouldn’t see Glimmer ever again, she wouldn’t be able to hug her, or kiss her. She wouldn’t be able to wake up by her side each morning, nor have breakfast together. She wouldn’t be able to read her a book. Adora had thought of so many things she had planned that she wanted to do with Glimmer, and now…

The ship finally stopped shaking. Adora raised her gaze to see what was happening, but instantly found Bow. He hugged her so strongly and cried on her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Adora!”, he sobbed, hiding his face in the girl’s shoulder.

Adora wanted to scream at him. She wanted to be furious with him, blame him for everything… but couldn’t. She simply couldn’t. ‘Don’t Blame Bow, Please’. That’s what Glimmer had asked her.

“I should’ve done something better, but… I couldn’t. Adora, I swear to you I couldn’t”, he lamented; “Forgive me!”.

“Why…? Why did you choose me?”, Adora asked; “Glimmer… Glimmer didn’t deserve this”.

“Glimmer is my best friend… I did what she would’ve wanted me to do”.

Adora couldn’t see Bow clearly. Only he could feel the same pain she was in… he had chosen… in the end.

“Forgive me Adora… Please”, he begged.

Adora hugged him. She couldn’t be mad at him. Glimmer wouldn’t have liked that, and also… after all, he had saved her life.

“What are we going to do without her, Bow?”, Adora asked.

She was so confused. From the moment she had joined the Rebellion, she never even considered a life without Glimmer. It was as if she had been there, her whole life. She was gone, and she had saved them.

“Bow… I don’t want to live, not without her”, she confessed.

“No! Adora… I know in the end, it’s all my fault, but… she chose to give her life away for you, for us… I know, if it had been you, you’d want Glimmer to be okay… I need us to be okay... We owe it to her”.

She supposed Bow was right about that… Adora would’ve wished that Glimmer could’ve been okay, if it was her… that wasn’t here anymore.

“Don’t hate me, please”, Bow lamented, anxious, and guilt-ridden.

“I don’t hate you, Bow… I couldn’t”, she assured him, without being able to stop crying; “I know you tried to save us both… it wasn’t fair for you… you saved me… I couldn’t possibly hate you”.

Adora allowed herself a small smile, for a few seconds, but then she covered her face again with her hands and cried. Cried, because this wasn’t fair for anyone of the three. Because Glimmer was gone, and she wasn’t coming back. Because she had lost the love of her life, just when she believed she had gotten her back.

She cried for every night she would never be able to share with her beloved Queen.

* * *

The pod had finally landed in the outskirts of the Whispering Woods. It seemed like they already had a welcoming committee. All the princesses, Sea Hawk, Micah, Catra, Swift Wind… everyone was here… well, almost everyone.

“Bow… I- I can’t do this”, Adora uttered. She had just managed to stop crying, but it was because she had finally run out of tears; “What am I going to say to King Micah?”.

“I think It’s gotta be me who tells him…”, Bow muttered. He felt horribly guilty, and of course, it had been his fault, after all…

He knew that, different from Adora, Glimmer would never have forgiven him if he had let go of Adora. But that wasn’t why he made that decision. No. It was because of all the love he had for Glimmer. She had been his best friend since they were children, they had gone through so much together, Bow would do anything for her.

Anything.

Even this. He could see it in her eyes while he held onto Glimmer. She had begged him with a look to save Adora. Now, it didn’t matter what would happen. Bow was going to dedicate his life to protect Adora. In Glimmer’s name. Besides, Adora needed him just as much as he needed her. Now, aside from the bond that already binded them together, this experience was something that would mark them for life. The day they traveled into space to save Glimmer… and they failed.

“Wait here”, Bow said.

Adora obeyed. She looked so depressed and miserable… Bow hoped to be able to do something for her. He was scared of what Adora was going to do now…

There wasn’t any sense in delaying it any longer. Although he would’ve preferred to stay inside their ship forever, the others were waiting. Somebody had to deliver the bad news. He must be brave… it’s the least he could do for Adora.

Bow breathed in deeply and exited the ship. The rest of his friends must’ve known something was wrong, because the moment they saw him, they all grew quiet. He, just like Adora, had cried during the entire trip back to Etheria.

“Bow?”, it was Perfuma who broke the silence; “Bow? What happened?”.

Those simple little words were enough to make Bow’s eyes fill with tears again.

“Where's Adora?”, Catra asked immediately.

“She’s inside… please… leave her alone. She doesn’t want to see anyone right now. Please”.

Bow breathed in deeply once again, and finally dared to look the kIng in the eyes. He was petrified.

“I’m sorry, your majesty”.

The effect was instantaneous. Perfuma gave a strangled cry of pain. Catra stood frozen in her place. Mermista’s mouth fell open, and she quickly had to hold onto Sea Hawk so she wouldn’t fall over. Frosta began to cry, and hugged Scorpia, who couldn’t even blink. Entrapta sat down on the ground, without saying anything. Netossa and Spinerella hugged, but the gaze of both of them fell on the ship, showing their worry for Adora. Swift Wind just propped his head down.

And King Micah… so suddenly, it seemed as though somebody had zapped the life out of him. He held onto his staff, and his eyes filled with tears as he stared blankly.

“Glimmer saved us”, was the only thing Bow was able to say.

* * *

Around a month had gone by since Glimmer’s death. For Adora, it hadn’t been any easy. She barely left her room, most of the time she’d only do it because Bow made her do it. She was really thankful to have him close because he seemed to be just as depressed as her, so she didn’t have to pretend like everything was alright. She knew a long time would go by before she could feel like she could go on, but she was really trying. During the good days, Adora even reunited with the princesses to help them with the planning of the reconstruction of the different kingdoms and villas, but she refrained from joining any missions lately.

The only other person who she wanted to see just as much as Bow was King Micah. He hadn’t blamed them for what happened. He was so proud of Glimmer, for being so brave, but of course, he also felt incredibly miserable.

Now, the day has come. The big day. It was something that the Princess Alliance, alongside the several military leaders and the King had decided and had communicated it to Adora. In the beginning, the girl had refused entirely, but after, Micah had expressed his reasons to make the decision he did, and well… the day was here.

Adora was wearing her red dress, the same one Glimmer had chosen for her to use at Princess Prom. Her hair was loose, since she knew that Glimmer liked it that way. She looked at herself in the mirror. Last night, she had cried herself to sleep, knowing this day would come. She had bags under her eyes, but that didn’t matter, nobody would notice…

“Adora”, Micah’s voice was heard, at the same time he was knocking on her door; “May I come in?”.

“Go ahead”, Adora indicated.

The King entered. He too was wearing formal clothing. There was a sad gaze in his eyes since the day Adora and Bow had come back from space, but even then, he managed to send the girl a warm smile.

“You ready?”, asked the man.

“I think so”.

Micah sat on Adora’s bed and signed her over so she could sit with him. Adora complied.

As if it hadn’t been enough that he wouldn’t blame them for what happened, Micah had adopted Adora, as if she was her daughter. When the girl felt like it, the King would invite her to drink tea with him, or to have dinner, or maybe go for a walk in the castle’s gardens. Adora wouldn’t speak much, but she felt very comfortable being alongside her new parental figure.

“The big day is here, Adora”, said the King; “I know this must all be pretty weird for you… so I need to tell you that I’m very grateful you accepted to do this”.

“I just don’t understand”, Adora muttered; “Why don’t you take the throne yourself?”.

Micah let out a little laugh, and laid his hand on her shoulder, saying: “Oh Adora, I’ve told you before a thousand times… I’m not a King anymore, And you’re a great leader. It’s you who should take the throne”.

Taking Bright Moon’s throne. In the beginning, Adora thought it was insane when the Alliance showed up to tell her: _‘Oh heya Adora, we want you to be Bright Moon’s next queen’_. But well, then Micah had showed up to tell her that, after all, she WAS Glimmer’s girlfriend. That the throne belonged to her anyways.

Adora accepted, not really knowing why. Maybe just because she knew nobody else wanted to do it. Glimmer had given her life to save hers, the least she could do in return was to look after Glimmer’s Kingdom.

“Going on without her hasn’t been easy for any of us”, Micah commented, then he sighed; “But you know… I know just how much you love my daughter. And I also know that you know she would’ve loved to see you being happy. I know you keep trying, Adora, I know you want to be strong and move on. And if Glimmer chose you to be her girlfriend, I know you must be a great person, and that I can trust you to do what’s best for my little girl’s Home”.

“Thank you for trusting so much in me… I won’t disappoint you, your majesty”, Adora responded.

“I know you won’t. Thank you for taking care of Glimmer while I wasn’t around”.

Adora nodded. There was no doubt in her mind that Glimmer had inherited all that kindness from her father.

“King Micah?”, sad Bow, peeking through the door; “Your sister is waiting for you in the Moonstone Spire. She says that she needs you for the final details”.

“Sure, it’s time”, answered the King, standing on his feet; “I’ll see you there, Adora. Don’t take too long”.

The King exited the room, and Bow entered. He was wearing his smocking. Without saying anything, he walked over to Adora and hugged her tight.

“So… Queen Adora~”, he said with a tiny laugh.

“It’s going to take a while to get used to that”, Adora responded, smiling a little.

Bow let go of her and looked into her eyes with a sad smile. Adora was thankful to have him as a friend… he now saved her, in her darkest moments.

“You know”, said Adora; “All this… has been so painful. In that sense, I’m glad it’s me who’s here. I’d never want Glimmer to feel any of this”.

“Oh Adora… Glimmer would be so proud to see just how hard you’re trying to get back on your feet”.

“Thank you Bow. I think she’d be happy to see how well things are going in the Kingdom, in general. I need to keep that up. For her. I want to go on… but I’ll never be able to forget her”.

“Of course not. We’ll never forget her”.

Bow laid his hand over Adora’s. With his other, he searched in his pocket as he said: “Adora… Some time ago, even before the Horde took Salineas… Glimmer asked me to make something for you. So many things happened, and I never got the chance to finish it, but… I think today is as good as any to finally give it to you”.

Bow extended his hand, showing off a beautiful golden collar, with a tear-shaped gem, just like the one on Glimmer’s crown. Adora took it, with shaky hands. She could see the tear had tiny latches…

“Open it”, Bow indicated, somewhat nervous.

Adora obeyed. On one side of the locket, there was a small photo of Glimmer and Adora, taken just as they’d arrived at the Kingdom of Snows, during Princess Prom. Adora could remember that night so well… it was when she realized what she truly felt for Glimmer, just after she’d been kidnapped by the Horde. Because of that, Adora hadn’t hesitated for even a second to try and rescue her. That day, she’d decided that, if everything went well, she’d ask her to be her girlfriend… which occurred after the Battle of Bright Moon.

On the other side, there was a small inscription that said: “Thank you for being the light in my life, my beacon of hope. G.”

Adora’s eyes filled with tears in an instant. Om that moment, she missed Glimmer even more than ever… She needed her so much…

“Thank you, Bow”, was the only thing she was able to say.

“I’ll give you some time”, Bow said, laying a hand on her shoulder; “Try not to take too long… I’ll wait outside”.

“Thank you… truly, for everything”.

Adora hugged him so tightly, and Bow hugged her back with just as much strength. Then, he stood back up and left the room, leaving Adora staring at the locket’s picture with longing.

* * *

Bow waited until he was alone in the hallway so he could let tears slide down his cheeks.

That collar, in the end, he thought it’d been a good decision to give her that collar.

The truth was that Glimmer had asked him to make a collar, sure, and Bow had done it almost immediately. But then all the problems between them had started, and then Salineas happened, and afterward that whole Heart of Etheria business and Horde Prime. Bow hasn’t had the chance to even give Glimmer the collar, since it was her who would give it to Adora.

Bow stuck his hand in his other pocket. He’d been carrying it because he wasn’t sure if he should give Adora the original one, but he thought things might be better this way. The collar she gave to Adora was a copy, almost exactly the same as the one Glimmer had asked him to make.

Bow opened the original, looking at the girls’ picture. Bow was so sure that Glimmer had been thinking of this exact collar when she had asked him to let go of her.

Yeah, the collar he had given to Adora was a copy. There was only one detail he had changed. The one Adora had, only held a touching phrase he had come up with that wouldn't've sounded wrong coming from Glimmer. It passed as an almost cute and simple little gift between them.

Bow sighed when he read what the original had inscribed. He could almost hear Glimmer’s voice when she asked all excited just what she wanted inscribed.

_‘Would you marry me?’_

* * *

Adora had felt a current of magical energy coursing through her body, but it wasn’t exactly an unpleasant one. It felt familiar… almost like when Glimmer would teleport her.

When the ritual stopped, she felt different. There was a new sensation inside her. That electrifying warmth that reminded her so much of Glimmer. Blue tinted sparks flew from her fingers for a few seconds… Well, perhaps she’d be able to use the Moon Stone’s magic after all…

Micah and Castaspella had hugged her, had given her words of encouragement… Well… Adora could see now that she wasn’t alone. Glimmer would always be missing from her life, but she had Micah, aunt Casta, and Bow… They were the family she always needed.

In the end, everything had been so untraditionally, that the guardian hadn’t even showed up when Adora entered the Chamber of Queens. That was fortunate, Adora didn’t really have the will to deal with much right now. She felt just a little overwhelmed for everything that was happening. That day, more than ever before, she could feel Glimmer close to her… and it was so hard knowing that wasn’t true. She’d never see her again.

Adora set the lantern on the pedestal. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. The last time she had been here with Glimmer, Angella’s figure had appeared before them… she felt she would break if…

Yes. There she was. Glimmer. Just how she remembered her. So beautiful and so radiant… like a Queen…

Adora put her hand to the collar that Bow had just given her. God, she missed her so much… She was trying to not cry, because she didn’t want to miss a single word…

“Hello, I am Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon”, said Glimmer’s hologram, somewhat nervous. Adora didn’t know when she had made this message. Glimmer cleared her throat; “Well… I suppose that in a few years I’ll need to update this message. If you’re hearing this, it’s because you’re Bright Moon’s new Queen. And since I don’t have any children… I know that, if anyone gets to hear this, it’ll be you… Adora”.

Adora felt her heart race at the mention of her name. Glimmer seemed to be looking straight at her, smiling.

“Adora… I need to tell you that I’m sorry. If you’re seeing this it means I’m no longer with you… But you know, I’m sure you’re probably blaming yourself for whatever happened to me… Listen, Adora, I want you to know that I would never blame you for anything like that. I know you would’ve worried about me to the last second, no matter how things happened. So now, you can only move forward. Please forgive me for not being there… with you, because if you’re seeing this, believe me, this isn't how I wanted to see you become a Queen”.

Adora cleaned her own tears. Glimmer knew her so well… God, she was sure Glimmer had recorded this hoping to delete it one day, and replace it with one meant… for an heir…

“Isn’t it a little funny?”, Glimmer’s hologram continued, with a twinkle in her eye; “The first time I saw you, you complained that being a princess was contagious. And now, you’re a Queen”.

Adora couldn’t help but laugh, but at the same time, new tears flooded her eyes.

“I know you’ll take good care of the Kingdom, Adora. Nobody could do it better than you. I ask you to move on. Do it for me. I love you with all my heart, Starlight”.

The hologram disappeared. Adora cleaned her tears again, and at the same time she whispered: “I love you too, and I always will…”.

Adora was raised in the air… The coronation was about to be completed.

* * *

Her first act as Queen was to conduct a meeting in the Meeting Hall. It wasn’t the first time she had done it; she’d had the chance before as a commander… But this was her first public appearance as a Queen, at least in front of the Alliance. Already in her new regal suit, that included Glimmer’s old cape, and sporting the crown, she entered the Hall.

At first, she hadn’t laid her eyes on anyone, although she could tell everyone was present. Her eyes landed on the newest mural, the one depicting Glimmer, Adora, and Bow.

‘I ask you to move on. Do it for me…’

Alright… she’d try. It was the least she could do. Adora would honor the memory of her girlfriend. It was clear the pain would never disappear, and that many more lonely nights where she would cry herself to sleep awaited her. But she was trying, so hard. She just had to do it for her friends, for Glimmer, for the Kingdom… and for herself.

She walked to the table, and finally glanced at everyone else. It was odd, nobody was looking at her. They were all staring at the same place, with a frightened face, somewhat worried. Adora couldn’t tell why until she reached her spot.

Obviously, Catra was invited to the meeting, in representation of the members of the Horde that had defected and surrendered. But of course, there were some things that she still had to learn... Like how nobody, nobody was allowed to sit in Glimmer’s chair.

“This is not your chair”, said Adora, with a calm voice, but somewhat menacingly.

“Sorry! First day. Won't happen again!”, Scorpia intervened, taking Catra by her wrist and pulling her to a different chair.

Adora laid her hand over Glimmer’s chair. She breathed in deeply, and looked ahead, speaking with a calm voice.

“Alright… let’s begin then”.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry  
> Special thanks to my dear friend [therodrigator6](https://therodrigator6.tumblr.com/l), who encouraged me to post this story and translated it for you 💙 You're the best, bro! Love you!


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